After ion implantation, semiconductor wafers are annealed to remove any damage including near-surface lattice modification caused by the implantation and to activate dopants. Annealing treatments are intended to reduce or eliminate damage to the semiconductor material. For example, annealing occurs when the wafer is exposed to high temperatures ranging from 800° C. to 1100° C. Also, short pulses of laser or electron beam radiation can be used to heal damage to semiconductor crystals that occur during the implantation of impurities. However, prior art annealing techniques, especially high temperature annealing, may result in unwanted diffusion of impurities deteriorating quality of the resulting semiconductor device.
Thus, low temperature annealing techniques for promoting healing of damaged semiconductor regions are desired. For example, mechanical energy is used to anneal semiconductor wafers. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,001,715 to Manka et al., large amplitude sound waves created by laser ablation are used to anneal crystalline materials.
It is an object of the present invention to anneal semiconductors doped by ion-implantation or other doping methods which cause damage to the wafer.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a non-thermal process of annealing a doped semiconductor material.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a process of annealing a semiconductor material implanted with dopants.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved process of annealing semiconductors.